City OKs Senior House Development
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Warsaw city councilmen went straight to the heart of a market values study presented by Rolling Hills Homeowners' Association Monday and voted 5-to-1 to approve a senior housing project as presented by Housing Opportunities of Warsaw.
Copies of the 52-page study, conducted by Good Valuation Inc. of Auburn, were given to the members at the start of the meeting.
In October, HOW advised Rolling Hills property owners of its option on 4.3 acres west of North Detroit Street, south of Gilliam Drive.
HOW plans to construct a nine-building site with 19 units - eight duplexes (of 720 square feet each) and one triplex - with carports. It will house low- to moderate-income seniors, ages 55 and older.
A public meeting was held in Center Lake Pavilion in November.
On Feb. 9, the Warsaw Plan Commission heard the proposal and forwarded the item to the council, making no recommendation regarding the development. Commissioners expressed concern about property values at that time.
Rolling Hills residents attended the Feb. 16 council meeting, where a request by the property owners' association to study property values was granted until March 15.
Monday, Steve Damon, a Gilliam Drive resident, led the council through the report, citing Warsaw realtors' answers to questions that indicated the project would have a negative effect on the subdivision's property values.
Consultants John Good and Amber Mahaffey also used Auburn real estate brokers as a control group.
Damon read from interviews conducted with local broker Joe Hamilton and two realtors who wished to remain anonymous.
From the report, Damon concluded there is a high potential for neighboring properties to depreciate up to 10 percent if the project is constructed.
Terry Milton, also a Rolling Hills resident, addressed the council, saying he recalled that HOW representatives said they would look elsewhere if the senior housing development affected property values negatively.
"They said, 'We'll move on,'" Milton said. He suggested HOW stick to its mission of housing the downtrodden and not build substandard properties.
As the two men spoke, council members pored over the document. When Damon and Milton finished their presentations, councilman Joe Thallemer said the study's executive summary and final conclusion did not agree with what the residents said.
Thallemer read from the executive summary prepared by Good and Mahaffey:
"'We have concluded that as the project is currently planned to be developed, assuming that it is property maintained and managed, it should not have a negative influence on values for homes in the Rolling Hills subdivision.'
And from the final conclusion: "'We have concluded that as the property is proposed to be laid out, there should be no noticeable effect on property values within the Rolling Hills subdivision.'
"That isn't what you told us," Thallemer said.
Damon responded that 99 percent of the answers in the body of the report indicated a 99 percent probability that property values would be negatively affected.
Councilman Bob Morrison said he didn't like the fact that anonymous people were quoted.
HOW lawyer Steve Snyder addressed the board, saying the residents' own bias and prejudice is creating the negative effect on property values.
This conclusion also was reached in the study. "We have determined that there are very strong opinions regarding the development and a few realtors in the market are beginning to create a stigmatization that the development will lower property values. This could potentially lead to reductions in values if these individuals continue swaying potential buyers of homes in the area," according to the report.
Council president Jerry Patterson said, "If I thought for one minute the project would negatively affect anyone's property values, I would vote against it."
Councilman George Clemens reminded the Rolling Hills residents that the land could have many uses and the senior citizen housing is an excellent buffer between the commercial properties along Ind. 15 and the single-family subdivision.
"This is why people don't want to get involved in local politics," he said of the tense situation.
Councilman Bill Rhoades called for a vote to approve the project, which carried, 5-1.
Councilman Jeff Grose remained against the proposal, saying he truly believed it will have a negative effect on property values.
"It's not a responsible development, this is not responsible growth. It's changing the property from having a very restricted use to a very liberal use," Grose said.
City councilmen are: George Clemens, Jeff Grose, Bob Morrison, Jerry Patterson, Bill Rhoades, Charlie Smith and Joe Thallemer. Smith was absent Monday. [[In-content Ad]]
Warsaw city councilmen went straight to the heart of a market values study presented by Rolling Hills Homeowners' Association Monday and voted 5-to-1 to approve a senior housing project as presented by Housing Opportunities of Warsaw.
Copies of the 52-page study, conducted by Good Valuation Inc. of Auburn, were given to the members at the start of the meeting.
In October, HOW advised Rolling Hills property owners of its option on 4.3 acres west of North Detroit Street, south of Gilliam Drive.
HOW plans to construct a nine-building site with 19 units - eight duplexes (of 720 square feet each) and one triplex - with carports. It will house low- to moderate-income seniors, ages 55 and older.
A public meeting was held in Center Lake Pavilion in November.
On Feb. 9, the Warsaw Plan Commission heard the proposal and forwarded the item to the council, making no recommendation regarding the development. Commissioners expressed concern about property values at that time.
Rolling Hills residents attended the Feb. 16 council meeting, where a request by the property owners' association to study property values was granted until March 15.
Monday, Steve Damon, a Gilliam Drive resident, led the council through the report, citing Warsaw realtors' answers to questions that indicated the project would have a negative effect on the subdivision's property values.
Consultants John Good and Amber Mahaffey also used Auburn real estate brokers as a control group.
Damon read from interviews conducted with local broker Joe Hamilton and two realtors who wished to remain anonymous.
From the report, Damon concluded there is a high potential for neighboring properties to depreciate up to 10 percent if the project is constructed.
Terry Milton, also a Rolling Hills resident, addressed the council, saying he recalled that HOW representatives said they would look elsewhere if the senior housing development affected property values negatively.
"They said, 'We'll move on,'" Milton said. He suggested HOW stick to its mission of housing the downtrodden and not build substandard properties.
As the two men spoke, council members pored over the document. When Damon and Milton finished their presentations, councilman Joe Thallemer said the study's executive summary and final conclusion did not agree with what the residents said.
Thallemer read from the executive summary prepared by Good and Mahaffey:
"'We have concluded that as the project is currently planned to be developed, assuming that it is property maintained and managed, it should not have a negative influence on values for homes in the Rolling Hills subdivision.'
And from the final conclusion: "'We have concluded that as the property is proposed to be laid out, there should be no noticeable effect on property values within the Rolling Hills subdivision.'
"That isn't what you told us," Thallemer said.
Damon responded that 99 percent of the answers in the body of the report indicated a 99 percent probability that property values would be negatively affected.
Councilman Bob Morrison said he didn't like the fact that anonymous people were quoted.
HOW lawyer Steve Snyder addressed the board, saying the residents' own bias and prejudice is creating the negative effect on property values.
This conclusion also was reached in the study. "We have determined that there are very strong opinions regarding the development and a few realtors in the market are beginning to create a stigmatization that the development will lower property values. This could potentially lead to reductions in values if these individuals continue swaying potential buyers of homes in the area," according to the report.
Council president Jerry Patterson said, "If I thought for one minute the project would negatively affect anyone's property values, I would vote against it."
Councilman George Clemens reminded the Rolling Hills residents that the land could have many uses and the senior citizen housing is an excellent buffer between the commercial properties along Ind. 15 and the single-family subdivision.
"This is why people don't want to get involved in local politics," he said of the tense situation.
Councilman Bill Rhoades called for a vote to approve the project, which carried, 5-1.
Councilman Jeff Grose remained against the proposal, saying he truly believed it will have a negative effect on property values.
"It's not a responsible development, this is not responsible growth. It's changing the property from having a very restricted use to a very liberal use," Grose said.
City councilmen are: George Clemens, Jeff Grose, Bob Morrison, Jerry Patterson, Bill Rhoades, Charlie Smith and Joe Thallemer. Smith was absent Monday. [[In-content Ad]]